Angels on the Money in Win

Aaron Sele cashed in ahead for the first time this season. David Eckstein showed that he’s not always a small-change player. Troy Glaus continued to be a money player ... at least at the plate.

Footing that bill were the Toronto Blue Jays, who provided plenty of silver-platter opportunities Saturday in the Angels’ 11-4 victory in front of 29,112 at Edison Field.

Glaus drove in three runs and Eckstein’s first career grand slam finished off a seven-run fifth inning that secured a season-high three-game winning streak for the Angels. The big winner, though, was Sele, who allowed only one earned run in 52/3 innings for his first victory as an Angel.

Sele was to be part of the solution, not the problem, when he signed a three-year, $24-million contract during the off-season. But his body of work this season before Saturday had resembled that of someone in a lower tax bracket.

He came into the game 0-2 with a 6.65 earned-run average, although he had shown improvement in his last two starts, pitching into the seventh inning and allowing only three earned runs both times. Yet, all he had to show for it were two no-decisions.

“You don’t play this game for money or for contracts,” Manager Mike Scioscia said. “It’s not like he was making the minimum salary where he was before. The bigger issue is coming into a new situation feeling uncomfortable.”

Sele feels a little more at ease after getting that first victory. Maybe it wasn’t a masterpiece--he allowed four runs, nine hits and two walks--but three of the runs were unearned. So this was something to build on.

“I think some of his adjustments have come a little more gradual and are not eye-opening things,” Scioscia said.

The eye-openers came at the plate for the Angels, who are beginning to show some offensive fortitude.

“I feel right now the pattern we’ve shown the last couple games will pay dividends,” Scioscia said.

A team’s stock tends to rise when facing the Blue Jays’ pitching staff. Toronto entered the game with the highest ERA in the major leagues (6.48). Blue Jay pitchers lived up to that number, although they were hurt by a few shoddy plays in the field.

The 11 runs were a season high for an Angel team that has struggled for offensive consistency since the season began, yet has averaged more than six runs in the last eight games.

“We believe we are a good offensive team,” first baseman Scott Spiezio said. “You go down our lineup and you see the talent there. It’s just a matter of getting things rolling. In the last week we’ve started to see guys getting hits in key situations.”

That is expected of Glaus, the Angel RBI leader. His three runs batted in Saturday game him nine in his last eight games. He has it .406 in that stretch.

The unexpected punch came from Eckstein, whose role in the Angel batting order before Saturday was easily defined.

Hit by pitches: 6. Extra-base hits: 3.

But with the Angels leading, 7-4, in the fifth, Eckstein jumped on a 1-2 pitch from Scotty Cassidy, sending a low drive that barely cleared the left-field fence near the foul line.His home run fit well into a game of highlights and lowlights.

Highlight: Darin Fletcher had a two-run double in Toronto’s three-run first inning.

Lowlight: All three runs were unearned, as Glaus booted a grounder that could have been an inning-ending double play.

Highlight: Glaus redeemed himself with a two-run single in the bottom of the first.

Lowlight: The table was set when Blue Jay starter Justin Martin walked the first three batters.

Highlight: Eckstein’s grand slam finished off a seven-run fifth.

Lowlight: The inning got rolling when Blue Jay first baseman Carlos Delgado mishandled Garret Anderson’s weak liner, which could have been an easy double play.